This Taoist priest is so unprofessional!

Zhang Chen's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a merciless hammer, striking Song Jianguo's already fragile nerves hard.

"There's no other way..."

Song Jianguo had heard these three words more than once. Those people had initially approached him with great confidence, saying they could help Song Wen's soul find peace.

However, the ending is the same.

Song Jianguo's cloudy eyes, which had just begun to glimmer with a sliver of light, dimmed instantly, and the last glimmer of hope was extinguished completely.

His chapped lips trembled as he tried to say something, but no sound came out.

The backbone that had supported him for ten years broke at that moment.

His whole body went limp, like a lump of mud, and he collapsed onto the floor along the edge of the bed.

Repressed.

A deathly oppression.

In the cramped room, only the old man's heart-wrenching cries and the heavy, almost suffocating breathing of the others could be heard.

Li Hao and Zhao Qiang, their faces pale, leaned against the wall, at a loss for what to do, not daring to even breathe.

Zhang Chen stood motionless in front of the table, staring intently at the menacing Soul-Suppressing Nail.

His brain was working at an unprecedented speed, with countless esoteric techniques and exorcising talismans flashing through his mind, only to be rejected one by one.

Soul-locking, spirit-suppressing, extradition, rebirth...

All methods revolve around one core issue—how to deal with this nail that is deeply bound to Song Wen's soul, and the soul that resides in the game.

Wang Xiaoer doesn't understand any metaphysics.

His gaze did not linger on the strange runes, but instead fell on the dark green circuit board through which the nail had pierced.

The crisscrossing lines and the chip corroded by the black energy made him feel both familiar and strange.

He didn't understand the concept of soul-suppressing and spirit-locking, but he had spent a lot of time with Zhang Chen and had gained some understanding of the formation of vengeful spirits through their conversations.

It was an emotion so intense it was almost overwhelming.

He looked at Song Jianguo, who was lying on the ground, crying so hard he was almost fainting, and suddenly remembered what the old man had said in the restaurant.

"My account was hacked..."

"All my equipment is gone..."

"Someone is definitely messing with me on purpose..."

These words seemed so out of place with the nail in front of them, which exuded an aura of evil.

It's like two completely different worlds that have been forcibly pieced together.

He looked at the circuit board, then at the nail, and a vague idea popped into his mind.

He didn't understand, so he wasn't bound by those rules and regulations.

He hesitated for a moment, then leaned forward and lowered his voice.

"Zhang Chen, do you think... it's possible that this nail is just a 'lock'?"

"But what truly trapped him wasn't the nails, but something else?"

Zhang Chen frowned, pulled from his thoughts. He glanced at Wang Xiaoer with some irritation, not understanding what he meant.

"What else?"

Wang Xiaoer looked at Zhang Chen, trying hard to organize his thoughts.

"Just like a computer."

He pointed to the keyboard.

"This nail is like a password set for a computer, a password that no one can crack. We're all staring at this password, trying to figure out how to break it."

"But the programs running on the computer are the key."

"Could Song Wen's soul be trapped by a 'program' or something else?"

"for example……"

Wang Xiaoer paused for a moment, then uttered the word he had just thought of.

"An obsession?"

The word "obsession" floated lightly into Zhang Chen's ears.

But it was like a thunderclap from the heavens, exploding with a deafening roar!

It instantly cleaved through the chaos in his mind that had been imprisoned by metaphysical theories!

Zhang Chen was struck as if by lightning, and suddenly froze on the spot.

He slowly, inch by inch, turned his head to look at Wang Xiaoer.

A light, unprecedented and almost frenzied, burst forth from those bloodshot eyes that had been filled with deep thought!

"I see!"

He grabbed Wang Xiaoer's shoulder, his slender fingers digging so hard they almost sank into Wang Xiaoer's flesh.

"I understand everything! Haha! Waiter, you're a genius!"

"The Soul-Suppressing Nail is merely a medium! It's the 'hardware'! It simply provides a coordinate, an energy source, forcibly locking Song Wen's soul in that internet cafe!"

"What truly trapped him, preventing him from escaping and reincarnating, was that game! Or rather, the tampered game client! That was the 'software'! A vicious cycle filled with resentment, bitterness, and despair!"

Zhang Chen's chest heaved violently; he felt as if the blood in his body was burning.

"We've been going in the wrong direction all along!"

"We shouldn't be thinking of pulling the nail out! Forcibly pulling out a nail is like forcibly formatting a hard drive; the data inside will be completely erased!"

"We should go...go and untangle his obsession! Help him complete that vicious cycle! Once the cycle is over, he'll break free on his own!"

At that moment, the oppressive atmosphere in the room was completely shattered!

Song Jianguo, who was lying on the ground, stopped crying, raised his head blankly, and looked at Zhang Chen, who seemed to have gone mad.

Li Hao and Zhao Qiang were also completely bewildered. They understood the terms "hardware" and "software," but they couldn't comprehend them at all when Zhang Chen used them.

But they could clearly feel that the despairing sense of powerlessness emanating from Zhang Chen had been swept away, replaced by a powerful confidence that allowed him to control everything!

Once you open your mind, everything becomes clear!

All the seemingly contradictory clues from before have now been perfectly connected into a clear logical chain!

Why does resentment form a "domain"? Because it's a game inside!

Why did Song Wen's spirit attack Li Hao? Because people often sat in his "seat," and in his world, these people were "enemies" who were stealing his last hope!

Why do conventional methods of deliverance fail? Because you haven't even entered his "game world," and all your actions are invalid commands to him!

Zhang Chen released Wang Xiaoer and paced back and forth excitedly in the cramped space, his fists clenched tightly.

He stopped in his tracks, his eyes gleaming with the sharp light of a hunter spotting his prey.

He quickly turned around and gave the order to Li Hao, who was still in shock, his voice decisive and clear.

"Li Hao, go back to the internet cafe right now and remove the hard drive from that computer!"

"Demolish it and deliver it directly to my shop. Then the internet cafe won't be able to accommodate anyone at night."

"Remember, do it as fast as possible! Do NOT format! Not a single byte can be touched!"

Then, he looked at Wang Xiaoer and gave him a bright, almost frightening smile.

"This time, we'll use magic to defeat magic!"

That evening, Li Hao and Zhao Qiang delivered the computer hard drive to Qiankun Law Firm.

But Zhang Chen didn't rush to deal with it, not because he didn't want to, but because he really couldn't handle it anymore.

Having not slept all night and worked non-stop all day, coupled with some internal injuries, he fell into a deep sleep as soon as he returned to the firm.

Wang Xiaoer was a bit better, but he didn't understand anything, so all he could do was anxiously wait for the hard drive.

After making up an excuse to send Li Hao and his companion away, Wang Xiaoer inexplicably made a decision.

After this matter is settled, he will also need to learn some Taoist arts!